Hundreds of children in about a dozen states have been sickened by a severe respiratory illness that public health officials suspect may be caused by an uncommon virus similar to the germ that causes the common cold. The suspected germ, enterovirus 68, is an uncommon strain of a very common family of viruses that typically hit from summertime through the fall, but this summer's cases are unusually severe. Hoosier hospitals are reporting an increase in the number of patients with respiratory illnesses, especially in children, but it's not yet known if the increase is related to the recent surge of virus 68.
